Hellooo Friend!
Hema Here.
Give me a biggg Hi5!
What does our RCGP say about our performance in CSA April 2012?
I am sharing this document just for YOU.
CSA EXAM FEEDBACK – APRIL 2012.
This feedback is designed to help both GP Educators and candidates in their preparation for the CSA. Areas addressed include examination statistics, specific candidate issues and feedback from the case management group
1) Examination statistics
The Spring CSA diet remains the most popular diet of the year, particularly for first time exam takers. The CSA ran for a record 28 days in January, February and March 2012. 2074 candidates were examined in total, 92.5% of whom were first time takers.
The overall pass rate for all candidates was 71.8%.
Some technical problems were encountered with the booking process for the Spring diet due to the high volume of bookings in the initial few hours. A new methodology has been piloted for the May 2012 diet, and these problems appear to have been ironed out.
A detailed annual report on examinations held during 2011/12 will be available later in the year
2) Specific Candidate Issues
Case leakage
During the Spring CSA diet it became apparent to examiners that there was some leakage of case details between candidates sitting the exam on subsequent days. This was entirely detrimental to the performance of those candidates involved. A unique palette of 13 cases is chosen for every day of the exam diet.
Candidates sitting on subsequent days are NOT going to see the same selection of cases. However, there are several cases within the case bank in the same clinical area, each with a slightly different focus or challenge. Candidates who ‘guess’ the case rather than responding to the concerns of the role player often get the focus of the case wrong and perform badly.
Please do not discuss the details of your cases with your colleagues as it likely to put them at a disadvantage and it is contrary to the Examination Regulations.
The penalties for candidates who disregard this warning are described in a document entitled Guidance on the Conduct of Assessments and may result in disqualification: http://www.rcgp-curriculum.org.uk/docs/Exams_Guidance%20on%20the%20conduct%20of%20assessments%20for%20MRCGP.doc
3) Feedback from the case management group
The CSA case bank contains approximately 600 live cases so providing feedback on individual cases would not be practical. However, it is possible to provide global feedback on cases based on their Curriculum area and we hope you will find this useful for preparation.
Genetics in Primary Care:
Despite the fact that at least 1 in 10 patients seen in UK primary care has a disorder with a genetic component, genetics cases consistently pose a high level of challenge to candidates.
Examples might include:
1. Prenatal counselling where a couple believe they are at risk of having a child with a single gene disorder such as Sickle cell disease.
2. A woman concerned about the significance of a family history of colon cancer requesting a colonoscopy.
Most of the cases require the ability to construct a simple family tree, recognise basic patterns of inheritance, communicate risk effectively and refer onto additional specialist services when required. Extensive knowledge of individual rare genetic disorders is not needed to pass.
Examination cases:
Examination skills are tested within the data gathering domain of the CSA. Not all CSA cases require an examination, so candidates should only offer to perform one where it is clinically indicated. In cases where an examination is appropriate the candidate may be assessed in 1 or 2 ways.
1) Choice of examination
The candidate may be assessed on their choice of examination but not actually required to perform the examination. If the candidate asks to examine the role player without giving any further details, the role player will prompt the candidate to ask them specifically what they want to examine. It may be useful for candidates to practice explaining their choice of examination to patients when preparing for the exam.
Choice of an appropriate examination in the CSA may be rewarded with a card showing the examination findings, a photograph demonstrating a physical sign or the examiner may verbally give the candidate the examination findings. Candidates should proceed to examine the patient rather than looking around for a card in each case.
Examination choice must be targeted to each clinical scenario; a blanket approach such as offering a full physical examination in each case is not appropriate or feasible in the general practice setting.
2) Technical proficiency
In addition to hands on examination skills and use of examination instruments an assessment may also be made of the ability to obtain consent, discuss a chaperone if indicated, and to treat the role player with respect. For the purposes of the exam the examiner will act as your chaperone if required.
Candidates must ensure that they expose and position patients correctly for examination. For example, it is not appropriate to listen to the role player’s chest through their clothes. The examiner is responsible for the role player’s safety during the examination. If a candidate appears to be causing a role player unnecessary distress the examiner will ask them to stop examining.
In preparation for the CSA candidates should try to perform as many examinations as possible under the supervision of their trainer and receive feedback on their performance.
Candidates and their trainers may find it helpful to refer to the Learning Physical Examination with e-GP guide on the RCGP e-Learning for GP site at http://e-lfh.org.uk/projects/egp/index.html.
We hope that you have found this report helpful. Please send any comments or feedback to exams@rcgp.org.uk
CSA Core Group
April 2012.
I am 100% sure that it would help you in your CSA preparation!
To Your Success,
Hema xoxo.
FURTHER READING:
MRCGP CSA EXAM FEEDBACK JANUARY 2012.
COMMENTS ABOUT CANDIDATES’ BEHAVIOUR IN CSA.
THE NEW CSA STANDARD – SETTING SYSTEM
P.S
I ‘d love to hear from You – SIGN UP!
Join with the Ripple Effect in Facebook – CSA SMARTGROUP 
P.P.S
Go Ahead, Add in Your Valuable Comments!
Not only will You learn something by doing IT,
But Your friends in the Blog will LOVE You for sharing it.